Welcome, Lifehackers, to our next Hacker Challenge! Each week, we issue a new challenge. You get…
Read more Read more

Check out the description of the winning entry below and read about some of our other favorite entries.

Winner: Silence Sports Commentators with a Simple Switch

RobRixmann30 discovered that most sporting events broadcast in surround sound only push the commentator audio through the center channel. Sure, he could unplug the center channel speaker or dig out the A/V remote and turn the center channel volume down to zero, but instead he decide to add single pole, single throw (SPST) switch to one of the two speaker wires running to his center channel speaker. We have to admit that throwing an actual switch on the commentators sounds more satisfying.

Advertisement

Note that this hack won't work for stereo broadcasts or if you don't have at least a 5.1 surround sound setup. Also, you should test your own system and the broadcasts you typically watch before actually installing a switch by simply unplugging the center speaker. In an impromptu test, we found that this hack worked on all the games being broadcast in 5.1 surround by our cable provider.

Honorable Mentions

We got a lot of great entries and we'd be remiss if we didn't share some of our favorites. Here are some of the entries that really impressed us.

Vent Heat With a Laptop Cooler

Gr8rt3k had a somewhat cramped cabinet for his A/V equipment and heat was a bit of an issue. He didn't want to pay for a specialized A/V cabinet cooling solution, so instead he bought Thermaltake laptop cooler with a 200mm fan and adjustable speed controller for under $20. The large fan moves more air while spinning more slowly (and thus quieter) than units with smaller fans. Because the laptop cooler was USB powered, Gr8rt3k also bought a USB-to-AC adapter. He took the whole unit apart so that he could reverse the air flow of the fan, cut a hole in the top of his A/V cabinet, and now all the hot air is vented out to the attic.

Repurpose an Old Dresser as an Entertainment Center

Remi and his family moved to a new house, leaving their IKEA entertainment center behind. They didn't want to spend much money on a new one, since entertainment centers tend to be on the expensive side. Instead, Remi repurposed an old dresser they found at an antique store for about $60 to serve new duty. He removed the upper shelves and most of the drawers, drilled holes in the back for cables, and was up and running in just a couple of hours. They've got more than enough room for all their gear, which includes a TiVo, router, 8-port switch, Monster power conditioner, Harman Kardon receiver, Xbox 360, Mac Mini, and an Apple TV. He left the 2 large drawers on the bottom for additional storage and used the removed drawers to organize their daughter's toys inside their built-in bench seating storage. Nothing wasted!

Reposition Your Projector Using a Sliding Mount

Acpowell has a make-shift home theater in his basement that includes a projector and a homemade screen. However, he had difficulty getting the projected image to fill the whole screen because he couldn't get it mounted far enough back. He solved this problem by creating a sliding mount out of some server slide rails he happened to have. The new mount allowed him to move the projector back a couple of extra feet so that the larger picture would fill the screen.

A big thanks to everyone who took the time to send us entries! Be sure to check back every week for a new challenge.